Larimer Humane petition for tax increase falls short

The Humane Society hopes county commissioners will add a ballot question to help fund construction of a $16.5M shelter.

Aug. 13, 2013

Volunteers, staff and supporters of Larimer Humane Society prepare to submit a petition to add a sales tax increase to the November ballot earlier this year. The nonprofit announced Tuesday that it fell short of the needed signatures. / Sarah Jane Kyle/Coloradoan library

Larimer Humane Society is asking Larimer County commissioners to put a sales tax increase supporting a new animal shelter on the November ballot after a citizen petition for the ballot question failed.

The nonprofit, which worked months to gather the 11,263 signatures it needed for the petition, had hoped to pass a new sales tax of 1 cent on every $10 spent in the county to help construct a $16.5 million shelter on 27 acres between Fort Collins and Loveland. The tax would have provided about $13 million of the funds needed for construction.

Of the more the 14,000 signatures the Humane Society collected, Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Angela Myers said 11,700 were eligible and 9,487 were accepted. More than 2,000 signatures were rejected as invalid, including those that were duplicates or names that couldn’t be found in county records.

“Whether I care about what’s on it or not isn’t my gig,” Myers said of the petition’s failure. “But it’s too bad it didn’t work out for them after all the work they put in.”

Larimer Humane Society Executive Director Judy Calhoun asked commissioners Tuesday morning to refer the issue to the ballot, stating that a “counting error” did not mean a lack of community support.

“Nearly every person who was asked signed our petition and wants a new animal shelter in Larimer County,” Calhoun said in a Tuesday release. “We want to give them the opportunity to vote on it.”

Sarah Jane Kyle is the Coloradoan reporter covering volunteerism, nonprofits and philanthropy. Follow her on Twitter @sarahjanekyle or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/reportersarahjane.